Barack, Michelle Obama Renew Call For Police Reform After ‘Vicious, Unjustified, Beating,’ Death Of Tyre Nichols
Since his days in the Oval Office, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have been calling for police reform. Now, the release of the brutal beating caught on video of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols has renewed their calls for reform.
On Saturday (Jan. 28), the Obamas collaboratively tweeted about the “vicious, unjustified beating of Tyre Nichols.”
“His ultimate death at the hands of five Memphis police officers is just the latest, painful reminder of how far America still has to go in fixing how we police our streets,” they tweeted.
In the tweet thread shared, a link to their Obama Foundation was included. The foundation was established to prevent injustice, crimes and much more.
“Along with mourning Tyre and supporting his family, it’s up to all of us to mobilize for lasting change,” they tweeted.
The Obamas seemingly ramped up their reform actions following the city of Memphis releasing footage of the January 7 brutal-turned-fatal beating of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.
Five Black officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr. – each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Thursday (Jan. 26) in a statement.
In the body camera and street footage released to the public Friday (Jan. 27) by the city of Memphis, the involved officers beat Nichols like a “human piñata,” as one of Nichols’ family attorneys Antonio Ramanucci stated.
On January 10, Nichols, who was a Fed-Ex employee, amateur photographer and skateboarder, died from his injuries in a local hospital.
“Nobody’s perfect, but he was damn near. My son loved me to death,” she said in a statement to The Washington Post. “My son didn’t do no drugs. He didn’t kill no one. He didn’t like confrontation.”
He also leaves behind a 4-year-old son.
According to CNN, the Obama administration took multiple stabs at police reform policies. “Pattern-or-practice” was one of the initiatives set by Obama’s Department of Justice. It was set up to investigate troubled police departments and “secure court-enforceable consent decrees.” Obama also launched a task force, which included securing federal funding for police departments to purchase body cameras.
